Press chamber controlling means



May 5, 1 936.

A. w. coc s PRESS CHAMBER CONTROLLING MEANS Filed July 5, 1952 M I r ww W 1-7 m y m I J MW 0 v I a Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ambrose W. Cocks, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor of one-half to Mathew H. Schafier, Des Moines,

Iowa

Application July 5, 1932, Serial No. 620,808

1 Claim.

The object of my invention is to provide a press chamber controlling means which is simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufac; ture.

A further object is to provide means for controlling a clothes drying apparatus in which water or other cleaning liquid is pressed from clothing by the action of pressure exerted on the clothing when in an extraction chamber, so that the liquid may thereby be displaced from the chamber to dry the clothing therein.

More particularly, it is my object to provide in connection with a washing machine or the like, a drying chamber with a flexible sack therein to receive the clothing, to provide means for applying pressure to the sack so as to collapse it and compress the clothing to extract water therefrom and to provide means for controlling the pressing operation.

Still another object is to provide means for releasing the air pressure when it reaches a predetermined amount and for also throwing the air compressor out of operation, all of this. being done automatically.

Still a further object is to provide a relief valve on the drying chamber which automatically opens when the pressure in the chamber reaches a predetermined degree and to provide a clutch for the air compressor which may be manually engaged and which will be disengaged by the valve when it opens, the parts When in such position being retained until the clutch is again manually engaged and the valve manually closed, the present application showing a simple relief valve for this purpose and my co-pending application Serial No. 642,587, filed November 14, 1932, showing and claiming a more complicated and improved type of relief valve.

Still another object is to provide means for developing and accurately controlling the pressure within a press chamber, which includes a connection between the outlet of a compressor and a point on the press chamber, and a controlling device responsive to pressure in the chamber at a point remote from the first point, so that the pressure can become substantially equalized within the chamber before the control operates instead of the control being responsive to surges of the air compressor.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointtherefor attached thereto. 5

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same showing the drying chamber partly in section.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 illustrating a motor, clutch and air compressor.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 2. illustrating a relief valve and associated mechanism; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5.--5 of Figure 1 showing a connection. be- 15 tween parts of the drying mechanism.

On the accompanying drawing, I have used the reference numeral [0 to indicate. a washing machine. tub and I2 the legs thereof. The cover of a washing machine is indicated at M.

In connection with a washing machine, a drive motor I6 is ordinarily provided. The motor l6 has a shaft l8 with which suitable drive mechanism for an agitator in the tub is connected. These parts are omitted from the drawing be- 25 cause they form no part of my present invention, the motor l6 being shown for the purpose of illustrating that my invention is connected therewith.

My invention includes a pressure drying chamber 20 which may be supported relative to the 30 washing machine tub ID in any desired manner.

I have shown a bracket 22 for this purpose.

The drying chamber 20 has a semi-annular flange 2'4 and a drain lip 26 extending over the tub ID. A cover 28 is provided which may have 35 a bayonet" and slot connection with the chamber 20, or may be connected therewith in any desir-' able manner so as to be rigid therewith, yet permit of water to flow out of the chamber onto the flange 24 and the lip 26. I have shown the edge of the cover, for instance, spaced from the chamber 20 as indicated at 30. Handles 32 serve as a convenience for manipulating and lifting the cover 28. Instead of a bayonet and slot connection, one of any desired character can be provided and if it is of waterseal character, the chamber 20 may be perforated adjacent the flange 24.

Within the drying chamber 20 I provide a flexible sack 34 having its upper edge sealed relative to the chamber. Along the upper edge, for instance, I provide a peripheral bead 36 adapted to seat in an annular groove 38 in the chamber 20'. The bead is held in tight seating engagement by an expansible ring 40.. The ring 40 has lugs t2 and 44 adjacent a split 46 in the ring. The 55.

lug 42 has a set screw 48 screw threaded therethrough and engaging the lug 44. It will be obvious that when the set screw is tightened, the ring will be expanded for firmly seating the bead 36 in the groove 38, thus providing an effective water and air seal between the flexible sack 34 and the chamber 20.

The motor shaft I8 is provided with a clutch member 50 with which a clutch member 52 is adapted to coact. The clutch member 52 when in engagement with the clutch member 58 causes rotation of a crank disk 54. The disk has a crank pin 56 on which the connecting rod 58 of an air pump A is journalled.

The air pump A includes a cylinder 60 having a lug 62 pivoted to stationary ears 64. It will be obvious that rotation of the disk 54 will cause reciprocation of the piston rod 58.

Intake and outlet check valves are indicated at 66 and 68, respectively. The check valve 68 is connected by a pipe 10 with one point of the chamber 20 so that when the pump A is operated, air will be forced into the chamber for developing pressure therein and thereby collapsing the flexible sack 34, for instance, to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2. During such collapse, the wet clothing indicated at 12 will be compressed and the water extracted therefrom, it flowing through the spaces 30 on to the flange 24 and the lip 26 and then into the washing machine tub [0.

From the construction of the parts thus far described, it will be obvious that when the clutch members 50 and 52 are engaged and the motor I6 is energized, air will be pumped into the chamber 28 for collapsing the sack 34 and this operation will continue indefinitely. It is desirable however, to accurately control or limit the pressure introduced into the chamber 26 and to also automatically relieve this pressure when it is once reached and render the air pump A inoperative.

To accomplish this I provide the following described mechanism.

A valve seat 14 communicates with the interior of the chamber 20. The seat 14 is remote from the point on the chamber to which the compressor outlet pipe 18 is connected. A relief valve 16 is seated against the seat 14. The relief valve i6 is held in engagement by a pivoted lever 18 and an adjustable spring 80. When the pressure within the chamber, when acting upon the valve 16, is sufficient to overcome the' tension of the spring 80, the relief valve 14 will be opened. By adjusting a wing nut 82, the tension of the spring may be adjusted so as to predetermine the pressure in the chamber 20 before the relief valve 16' does open.

The non-adjacency of the seat 14 and the connection 18 to the press chamber is for the purpose of causing accurate response of the relief valve 16' to the pressure in the press chamber without being affected by the surges of the air compressor as would bethe case if the seat 14 were connected with the point 10 or adjacent it. By the remote arrangement of the two points mentioned, the compressed air which enters the press chamber in surges will become equalized within the press chamber before it affects the relief valve.

A clutch lever 84 is pivoted at 86 and has a forked end 88 engaging in a groove of the clutch member 52. Swinging the handle on the upper end of the clutch lever 84 to theright in Figure 2 will engage the clutch members 50 and 52. This is done manually against the action of a spring 98 which tends to disengage the clutch. The clutch, however, is maintained in engagement by a lever 92 when engaged with a notch 94 of the lever 18 (see Figure 4). The lever 92 is connected by a link 96 with the clutch lever 84.

When the relief valve 16 opens, the lever 18 will be swung to the dotted line position of Figure 4 for unlatching the lever 92, which will move as indicated by the arrow a. in Figure 4.

This will permit the spring to swing the clutch lever 84 and disengage the clutch member 52 from the clutch member 50, thus causing a cessation of the operation of the air pump A. All of this is done automatically.

With the parts in the dotted line position of Figure 4, it will be obvious that thespring 80 cannot pull the lever 18 to reseat the valve 16 after some of the pressure has been relieved. Thus the valve must remain open until all the pressure is relieved, whereupon the cover 28 may be removed and the dried clothing removed from the chamber 20.

After relief of the air pressure, the clutch is in a disengaged position and the relief valve is open so that when another drying operation is desired, the clutch lever may be manually moved to engaged position which will move the lever 92 to the full line position in Figure 4 and permit the spring 88 to draw the latch lever 18 to its full line position with the spring again acting to seat the valve 16.

Although I have shown an air pump for producing pressure in the chamber 20, a liquid pump can be substituted with a return from the relief valve 16 to a reservoir, the pump getting its supply of liquid from th reservoir or from the tub ID if desired. The automatic relief valve and clutch would operate in the same manner to effect semi-automatic operation of the dryer, the only manual operations being the introduction and removal of clothing to and from the chamber 20 and the manipulation of the clutch lever 84 to start the drying operation.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within its scope.

I claim. as my invention:

Means for developing and accurately controlling the pressure within a press chamber comprising a compressor, a connection between a point of said press chamber and the outlet of said compressor for developing pressure in the chamber and a controlling device for controlling such pressure comprising a motor, a clutch connection between said motor and said compressor, means tending to disengage said clutch, said clutch being manually engageable, a latch to retain it engaged, means for releasing said clutch comprising a plug, said press chamber having an opening remote from said mentioned point thereof for said plug to seat against and resilient means to retain said plug seated till 7 

